Top 10 all-time college basketball programs ft. Kentucky, UCLA, UNC, and more

Most fans have different ways to measure greatness in college basketball. There's John Wooden's UCLA dynasty with ten titles in eleven years, and Kentucky's 2,320 wins over the entire program's history, the most ever. Both are obviously displays of greatness, but which one ranks highest?

Such rankings are difficult because the very best of the best are not ranked only according to championship wins, but by different criteria. So we used a combined set of factors to create the list, including the number of total wins, regular season tournament wins and national championship wins.

Here are the top 10 all-time college basketball programs:

#10. UConn Huskies

Coach Jim Calhoun has made the Huskies a feared basketball program and they have won an impressive 29 regular season titles.

UConn has also accumulated three national championships to boot, a long way from UCLA's eleven but a good start nonetheless. The reason they are not higher up on this list is that there is no winning pedigree before the era of Jim Calhoun.

#9. Villanova Wildcats

No one said that modern history doesn't count, and Villanova certainly ramped up their win rate in the last ten years to make a late push for inclusion on this list.

They are ninth on merit, as they have three national championships, with two coming in the last seven years. Villanova has accumulated thirteen regular season titles won alongside an impressive 403 weeks ranked.

#8. Cincinnati Bearcats

The Cincinnati Bearcats have had an interesting history, jumping from one conference to the next. They began in the Missouri Valley Conference and arrived at the American via the Big East and two other conferences.

What they have done best though, is win. They have spent 434 weeks ranked and won 25 regular season titles along with two national championships.

On the talent production end, they have produced 39 top-60 NBA picks in their history, not bad for a journeyman program.

#7. Indiana Hoosiers

Coming out of the Big Ten, the Indiana Hoosiers more than merit their place on this list. Under the guidance of legendary coach Bob Knight, Indiana was the dominant team of the 70s and 80s taking over from John Wooden's UCLA.

The 1976 season has to be mentioned as well as one of the best in history, the Hoosiers having a perfect 32-0 record. When Wooden retired, there was a vacuum after UCLA dropped off and the Hoosiers certainly took advantage.

Nineteen regular season title wins and 560 weeks ranked show their continuous pedigree and why they rank so high on this list.

#6. Louisville Cardinals

The fact that Rick Pitino left the pedigree of Kentucky for the Cardinals should tell you everything about the program. They have a rich history, particularly in the 80s trading wins with Indiana.

The Cardinals have two national championships and 21 regular season titles, to go with their 652 weeks of being ranked.

#5. Kansas Jayhawks

The Jayhawks have a whooping 55 regular season title wins and three national championships. They have 2,070 wins, second for all-time.

What counts against them is the nine national final appearances which they have converted into three championship wins.

#4. Duke Blue Devils

Twenty-four regular season titles and five national championships put the Blue Devils among the basketball royalty of Kentucky and UCLA.

There have been memorable games against North Carolina and legendary runs under Mike Krzyzewski aka "Coach K." They won back-to-back national titles in 1991 and 1992 and have kept up consistent final four appearances.

#3. North Carolina Tar Heels

The North Carolina Tar Heels have the most final four appearances of any program at eighteen, tied with UCLA. They have converted quite a few of those into wins with five national championships to their name.

The fact that they have 25 regular season titles is dwarfed by the more significant fact that they have produced arguably the greatest-ever NBA player - Michael Jordan.

They have a good spread of national championship wins from the perfect 1957 season to 2005 and 2009.

#2. UCLA Bruins

The team with the most national championships (11) is number two on this list. They accumulated most of their national titles under the legendary coach John Wooden, with ten wins in eleven seasons between 1964-1975.

The only reason that they sit second is the fact that outside of that John Wooden bubble, they only have one more national title to their record (1995).

This is the alma mater of Reggie Miller and Russell Westbrook. UCLA has produced 83 top-60 NBA picks in its long and storied history.

#1. Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky is the consensus number-one basketball program in the nation bar none. They have a storied history littered with conference and national championship wins. Their 918 weeks ranked is only bettered by North Carolina alongside having three fewer championships than UCLA.

The Wildcats have forty-seven regular season titles and 131 NCAA tournament wins to boot, the most ever. Overall, they also boast 2,320 wins, by far the most by any basketball program in the country. The clincher is that they have eight championship wins, the second most title wins overall.

Not only do they win, but they are also an NBA talent factory having churned out 102 top-60 NBA picks. Kentucky counts among its alumni, John Wall and Anthony Davis.